Chapter 10: Triple Trust Trial

It was the morning after the cooking challenge. Chef was serving up leftovers, Heather had a cold from being locked in the freezer and DJ was feeding his pet rabbit. Duncan went over to the coffee dispenser, took a mug and shoved it under his shirt. Courtney walked up glaring at him. "I saw that. How can you just steal a mug?" "Cause it's cool looking and I don't have one. Heh... didn't have one, that is." "But you might get kicked off!" Duncan sat down at the table. "Aww, and here I thought you didn't care about me." "We're one player short and I don't wanna lose because you feel like going all criminal on us." "Whatever. You dig me." "Ugh! Why do I even bother!"

The campers came to the dock for the next challenge. "So", Chris said, "the last challenge exposed a few Gopher issues, and I'm sensing a little something funky floating in the Bass pond too. So, this week's challenge is gonna be centered around building trust, because all good things begin with a little trust."

Confession Cam: Gwen
"I trusted Trent once... he left me buried alive on the beach."

Confession Cam: Heather
"Yes, this is my chance to show off my niceness! I am so going to dominate this challenge."

"There will be three major challenges that will have to be completed by two or more members of your team. Normally, we like to have the campers choose their partners, but not this time! More fun for me!" He led the campers over to a cliff for the first challenge. "Okay, so for the first challenge you'll be doing an extreme freehand rock climbing adventure. DJ and Duncan will play for the Bass, Heather and Gwen for the Gophers. Here's your billet and harness." He tossed them to the campers and Heather snatched the billet. "Hey, what's your damage?" Heather glared at Gwen. "If you think I'm letting you hold me up, you're nuts." "You won't be holding her up exactly", Chris said. "One camper pulls the slack through the billet as their partner climbs. If the climber falls, the tight rope will stop them from crashing. The catch? Both the side and the base of the mountain are rigged with a few minor distractions, like rusty nails, slippery oil slicks, TNT and a few other surprises. The person on billet must also harness their partner up. It's all about trust, people, AND, remember, never let go of the rope. Your partner's life depends on it." Gwen raised her hands. "Excuse me, can we trade partners? I really don't feel like being dropped on my head today." "Oh please", Heather said. "As much as I 'love' your company, I'm not gonna throw a challenge just to kill you. Just trust me." Meanwhile, DJ handed Bunny to Geoff. "Hey Geoff, take care of Bunny while I'm climbing, okay?" "No problem, DJ."

The campers started climbing, with Gwen taking the lead until some dynamite blew up. She fell a few feet, but Heather pulled the rope tighter. "It's okay, I've got you!" Chris laughed. "Not for long!" He pulled out a squirt gun and blasted her and Duncan with hot sauce. "I'm not letting go, no matter how gross this is!" Gwen kept climbing, passed DJ, and reached the top. "Well, looks like the Gophers have won the first challenge", Chris said.

Next, everyone went to the mess hall. "And now, round two. The extreme cooking challenge! Each team must choose which of their two players cooks and who eats." Cody raised his hand. "I didn't help much in the last challenge, I'll handle this one." Trent nodded. "And I was head chef last time", Geoff said. "You better cook, Courtney." "Today you'll be preparing fugu sashimi, the traditional Japanese poisonous blowfish. The fugu blowfish contains enough toxin to kill thirty people. They must be sliced veeery carefully to cut around the poisonous organs. The poison paralyzes the nerves and there is no antidote! So no worries." Trent grabbed Cody by the shoulders. "You have taken biology, right?" Cody nodded. "Yeah, I'm great at science, I'm just not good under pressure... oh boy..." Half an hour later, the campers were done. Courtney gave her plate of sushi to Geoff, who ate a piece. He gave a thumbs up sign, but then barfed. "Darn it!", Courtney said. "I'm used to Western cuisine, not sushi." Then, Cody gave his plate to Trent. He ate a bite and pretended to have a seizure, then laughed. "Yeah, this is pretty good." "Well, the Screaming Gophers win again!"

After the challenge, Geoff went swimming. He put Bunny on a lifeguard chair to keep him safe, but a snake came and ate him. Then a bird flew by and ate the snake, and the bird got eaten by a shark, along with part of the dock. "Oh, come on! Bunny's dead meat, and so am I!"

"Good news", Chris told everyone, "The next part involves three challenges. It's the three BLIND challenges! It begins with the blind William Tell followed by the blind trapeze and culminating in the treacherous blind toboggan run." Chris put a an arrow on DJ's head. "Like the legendary marksman William Tell, you'll be knocking arrows off your partner's head with crab apples." "Um, wasn't it the other way around?" "Also, the shooter will be blindfolded. The person who knocks off the arrow while causing the least amount of facial damage wins." Chris blindfolded himself and launched an apple to demonstrate, and hit DJ in the crotch. He fell over in pain. "Ah, nuts! Okay. Lindsay and Leshawna, you'll be one team. Courtney and Sadie, you'll be the other. Sadie jumped for joy. "Ooh, let me shoot, I'm a good shot!" Courtney sighed. "You better be..." The campers teamed up, with Lindsay hitting Leshawna repeatedly, while Sadie only took a few shots to hit the arrow off Courtney's head. "Alright, the Killer Bass finally win one! And now, the blind trapeze!"

Chris led them over to it. "To avoid serious injury, the trapeze has been set up over this pond. Which is fully of nice, soft jellyfish! Heather and Courtney will stand blindfolded on the platform until their partners tell them when to jump. And then, hopefully they'll catch you, or that's gonna be one heck of a painful swim. Harold, Katie, get ready!" Heather and Katie were up first. "Okay Heather, on three. One... two... three!" Heather jumped and Katie caught her, and then swung back to the platform. "Yay, we did it!" Sadie cheered too. "Way to go, Katie!" Then it was Courtney and Harold's turn. He swung himself but rammed into a pole. "Ow!" "Now?" Courtney prepared to jump. "No, wait!" But, she slipped and fell into the lake of jellyfish. "Ooh, that's gonna hurt!", Chris said. "Well. Looks like we have our winners!"

DJ sighed. "Dang. So, uh, Geoff? Where's bunny at?" "Oh, uh, I put him, uh... there was a... he's not with us anymore. He uh... hopped away. But, I'm sure he'll be back. Sorry, dude..." DJ patted Geoff's shoulder. "Nah... it's not your fault, man." He walked away. "My little Bunny... we were such good friends." He got down on his knees and screamed at the sky. "BUNNYYYY!" A while later, Duncan walked up to him holding a rabbit and a half eaten carrot. "Hey DJ! Look who I found!" He looked up. "Bunny! You came back!" He picked Bunny up and twirled around for a bit. "Thanks, Duncan. You're the best." Duncan crossed his arms. "Whatever, man. It's just a stupid rabbit." He walked back toward the cabin and ran into Courtney. She smiled at him and said "I can't believe you found a new bunny for DJ. You're a good guy." "What? No I'm not!", Duncan said. "You are. You're actually... nice." Duncan turned away. "I don't know what you're talking about." Courtney hugged him. "I saw what you did, Duncan. You really cheered him up. Thanks." He pushed her away. "Okay, fine, I did it. Are you happy now? Listen, don't tell anybody. Okay? I don't want 'em to think I'm soft or anything." She smiled and walked away. "Your secret's safe with me."

Once again it was time for a campfire ceremony. "Okay, you guys know the routine by now", Chris said. "Either get your marshmallow, or if I don't call your name you're out of here. Let's see. One for Sadie, one for Harold, one for Courtney, one for Geoff, and... DJ." "What!" Duncan got up and walked over to Chris. "You're not serious, are you?" "I'm afraid I am, bro. Dock of shame awaits." Duncan glared at his team. "You guys are gonna pay for this, I swear! You'll regret voting me off!" Courtney sighed and waved goodbye as Duncan walked away.